Genomatica (San Diego, Calif.; www.genomatica.com) and Cargill (Minneapolis, Minn.; www.cargill.com) have entered into a collaboration agreement to accelerate the production of renewable chemicals for industrial applications. The collaboration will give chemical producers, distributors and users access to a reliable, cost-effective source of carbohydrate feedstocks, co-location support services and production partnerships, based on GENO process technologies.
The companies will co-market Cargill’s feedstock and production services to current and prospective Genomatica licensees, and chemical users and distributors. To further strengthen the companies’ collaboration, Cargill made an equity investment in Genomatica and secured rights to make additional investments.
“Cargill’s production services give Genomatica an innovative way to accelerate deployment and better serve the chemical industry and needs of our customers,” said Christophe Schilling, CEO of Genomatica. “This is a natural complement to the innovation, sustainability and cost-advantaged production enabled by our technologies.”
Combining Genomatica’s GENO process technologies with Cargill’s global strength in carbohydrate feedstock, risk management, operational expertise and readiness to build, own and operate plants worldwide for select customers, has the potential to help the bioeconomy expand more rapidly. “As Cargill continues to strategically expand its presence in the industrial biotechnology space, our collaboration with Genomatica broadens our portfolio of sustainable production solutions,” said Cargill Corn Milling vice president Brian Silvey. “Companies will be able to produce or distribute chemicals used for industrial applications faster, more reliably and more cost-effectively.”